We're always left waiting
by princepessa.kate
Summary: After Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave Hogwarts in search of the Horcruxes, Ginny finds herself standing in a limelight she never thought she'd see. However, escaping from the shadow of the Boy Who Lived is sometimes more dangerous than exhilerating. Ginnyc
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is mostly for my good friend Openbookclosedmind. My silly friend insisted that it was not super nerdy to write HP fanfiction. Now look, I like it. **

**I _need_ reviews. I crave them. Satisfy my craving?**

**So, I don't own HP… wouldn't that be nice? Think of the fun…**

Ginny Weasley tossed her messenger bag over her shoulder and called back to a classmate "What time are we studying tonight?" She smiled at the answer, unaware of the pretty picture she made in the sunlight, all burnished red hair and bright smiles. A wizarding camera flashed, its light lost in the brightness of the day and Ginny Weasley's image was captured. The shadowed figure turned away, his camera hidden again, and disappeared, leaving no trace of his appearance on the grounds of Hogwarts. Ginny dashed off, rushing to meet her friends before heading off to Potions. Her photographer made his way to the edge of the grounds and disapperated, leaving nothing behind.

The date was awkward, as most first dates turn out to be. It was a Hogsmeade weekend and Ginny was currently stirring a cup of tea with a little silver spoon, her hair pulled back and her eyes watching the swirling drink. A sharp rattle caused her to glance up at Seamus, a smile immediately coming to her face.

"What's wrong?" The expression on her face was amused.

Seamus cleared his throat. "Is there somewhere else we could go?" His freckled face blushed so easily. It was open and honest, one of the things that attracted him to her.

"Uh… yeah, we could just walk." She suggested, trying not to blush herself. It was awkward for her to be like this with any boy, especially Seamus. When Harry left, he'd kissed her forehead and whispered, "Don't wait for me, Gin. I can't promise I'll come back." Ginny had looked up at him, eye filled with unshed tears but mouth firm. She nodded once, acquiescing to his last wish.

"Damn, I'm so bad at this!" She swore, coming back to her sense and standing up quickly, trying to hide from Seamus' eyes. He had been so good even though he knew that she could never truly be his. He reached to take her hand and she let him, mostly out of pity.

"We'll figure it out." He whispered in her ear. She blushed and tears filled her eyes. How did he always know what she was thinking?

The two walked quietly in the sunlight, hands clasped and heads bowed, heading for Lover's Hill, a prominent feature of the Hogsmeade landscape. Their minds were busy, both trying to guess what the other was thinking. Before they reached the top, Ginny pulled him away towards a more secluded site on the slope facing away from Hogsmeade.

"Please, I don't want to be on display." She said, reaching for his other hand. He smiled down at her, all big blue eyes and blond hair.

"I understand." He pulled her close, and they stood together in the bright afternoon sun, swaying to music neither heard nor understood. They knew they were neither one enough for the other but just for now it was good to pretend.

Afternoons like that did not happen enough. Dark magic had been released in the Wizarding world and some innocents would always pay the price. Three weeks before Christmas, Seamus fell in a preemptive strike for which he had volunteered. Dumbledore's death had left the school in a patriotic fervor with flames only fanned by Harry, Ron, and Hermione's departure from Hogwarts to "battle Voldemort." Very few people, Ginny being one, knew what they were truly looking for. The night before Seamus left, Ginny met him on top of the Astronomy tower where he proceeded to slip a ring on her finger. Ginny wore that ring on a necklace, keeping it close to her heart. The fire of her hair was covered with black lace at the funeral; Seamus' body was burned in the tradition of ancient Wizarding warriors. Standing in the flickering firelight, Ginny's life took on a new bent. Her eyes narrowed and her heart hardened. Life would not find her waiting again.

When Remus Lupin arrived at Hogwarts after Christmas to teach his new "Advanced Defense" class, he found one student waiting for him, Ginny.

"Go to bed, Ginny." He said, his voice sad and his eyes tired. "We'll begin tomorrow." He walked off down the darkened hallway, rain dripping from the edges of his traveling cloak. His footsteps echoed in a melancholy way, bouncing off the hallways and ringing through the suits of armor. Moments later, in front of a roaring fire in his apartments, he thought about the good times he'd spent here. It was a quiet and lonely school without Dumbledore and the three around. He reached for a poker and stirred up the fire, smiling at its sudden warmth. He reached over for the steaming goblet of butterbeer, downing it with two shuddery gulps.

With a little stab, Remus knew that he shouldn't have been so quick with the Weasley girl. She was a lonely little thing now that her brother and friends were gone. He allowed himself to think of her, eyes hard, skin pale standing in the Great Hall watching him. For just a moment he wondered when she'd become so grown-up. Then he forced himself to think of Tonks. Where was she tonight? He'd lost her so quickly. They'd had only one perfect summer. Only one and then she was gone. Just that quickly, one curse and she was gone. The medics said she felt nothing but Remus knew the truth. True love always hurts.

There had been several close calls in the Daily Post recently and even one in muggle tabloids. As the werewolf go-between for the ministry, he'd had to investigate these stories himself, an unpleasant task.

His hardest task was meeting with a little girl in the hospital, looking into her eyes and telling her the truth. Her test had come back positive. She would never see the full-moon again from human eyes. When she cried, all he could do was hold on, listening to her little snuffles. It was only a week later that he held off his transformation for a full hour so he could hold her while her snuffles turned into screams. Then, he touched noses with this little gray wolf and turned, allowing himself to be loaded into the back of a carriage and carried back to his apartment. Then he settled down, tail over nose, to wait out his curse.

Trying to distract himself, Remus pulled out the class list he had been given. The names were familiar to him. A few even brought smiles to his face. "Let's see," He mused, running his finger down the page. "Creevey, Colin; Corner, Michael; Greengrass, Daphne; Longbottom, Neville; Lovegood, Luna; Smith, Zacharias; Weasley, Ginny." At the name Greengrass, his eyebrows shot up. "A Slytherin on the list," He mused. "This could bode well for the class." Closing his eyes, he spared himself further thought and fell fast asleep.

Ginny Weasley found herself unable to sleep. She lay in her massive, dusty bed and tried to remember life when it was simple. With a little snort she thought about how very pathetic that made her sound. "Life was simple." Holding a pillow over her face, she fought to contain her giggles. "Life has _never_ been simple. How boring would that have been?" Ginny Weasley was made for the abnormal, the insane. She would have hated any stab at normality. Her attempts to remain quiet failed as her giggles grew louder.

"I'm pleased that some of us have time for this foolishness." An icy voice hissed through the room.

Ginny looked over at one of her many roommates and replied, "Shut up Melinda, it's not too late to apply for a Slytherin transfer." She flipped Melinda off and rolled over, all humor gone from her face. The velvet comforter felt too hot against her cheek and her legs were sticky against the sheets.

Melinda, a light sleeper, grumbled back before pulling her curtains shut with a loud bang. Ginny humphfed one more time then remembered the hilarity of her situation and abandoned her fight for sleep. Instead, she sat up, tucking her feet into cozy slippers at the side of her bed and grabbing her wand. She padded down the stairs of her dorm and collapsed into one of the chairs. From her vantage point the fire flickered and she imagined pictures in it.

She found herself there in the morning, hunched in the chair, the fire gone to coals and her neck stiff. A blanket was laid across her lap and she looked up into the worried face of Colin Creevey.

"You okay Gin?" He asked. At her slightly pained nod, he smiled and tugged on the blanket. "You looked cold. You know," he continued. "You should get more sleep." Almost despite herself, Ginny had to chuckle.

"I'll take that into consideration next time." She smiled, her tone light and a bit sarcastic. Could war ever be good for a person? If so, war had been good for Colin Creevey. He had come into his own since Harry had left, becoming a taller young man with a ready smile and slightly messy brown hair. He held out his hand and Ginny used it to pull herself up. She grinned up at Colin,

"I'm such a mess. If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't out drinking last night." Colin grinned back at her.

"I assumed as much Miss Weasley." He teased, "McGonagall would never stand for it, her prized pupil out drinking too much butterbeer at night!" Ginny punched his arm lightly.

"That would be you, Mr. Genius." She laughed, running a hand through her messy hair. "Hey, I've got to go. I've got class in an hour." Colin watched as she ran up the stairs before turning away and heading out the portrait hole. After the Fat Lady swung shut behind him, he walked towards the Great Hall whistling tunelessly.

Meanwhile, Ginny was rushing through her morning preparations and pulling on her robes feverishly. After rooting through her trunk and pulling out a hairbrush, she ran for the stairs. Ten minutes later she skidded through the door and into her seat, just on time for Charms.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that day, Lupin paced into his classroom, patched robes swirling around him, reading glasses perched low on his nose. Despite being appointed by the Ministry to fill this position at Hogwarts, he was still uncomfortable in an academic setting. It generally wasn't until class was begun and the students occupied that Remus could relax.

He looked up owlishly through his glasses before pulling them off and polishing them on his robes. Holding them up against the light, he decided they were clean and shoved them into a pocket. Remus finally looked at his students in earnest, examining their apprehensive expressions.

"Advanced Defense," The words hung heavy in the air. "This class, on orders from the ministry, is a shabby attempt to make you into miniature Aurors." His voice was tinged with bitterness and he sent a glance out across the room gauging reactions. Even Neville, one of his biggest fans, was watching the scarred surface of his desk as though fascinated by the message it might contain.

Lupin heaved a huge sigh and sat on the edge of his desk, steepling his fingers in his lap before looking up again.

"Miss Greengrass," his tone was sharp. "How many Death Eaters do you know?" Daphne looked up, her eyebrows rose, and she laid her nail file on her desk with a rasp.

"I know 17 Death Eaters, Professor." Her tone was civil and even respectful until she added. "I know 2 Gryffindor Death Eaters." Ginny and Luna shoved a struggling Colin back into his seat as he swore loudly and in several languages. Lupin held in a few choice words of his own as Daphne picked her nail file back up.

After a long pause, he finally said, "That will do Colin. Miss Greengrass, I will need to speak with you after class."

"As you wish, Professor." Remus smiled tightly at her and continued the process, asking the other students about their Death Eater contacts. By the end of the first hour, the class had accumulated a total of 251 Death Eaters. Although he knew that most of them knew the same Death Eaters, Lupin was impressed with the number. As his students filed soberly from the room, he erased the board and closed his notes. Looking up from the board, he noticed Miss Greengrass standing in front of him.

"Did you want to speak to me, Professor?" She was a pretty girl with wavy blonde hair and lidded gray eyes.

"Sit down, Daphne." Lupin's mood was well hidden within his gravely tone. Daphne sat elegantly, tucking her skirt under her and crossing her legs at the ankles. He furrowed his brow and decided to simply state his concerns. "Why are you in my class?" Turning her face away, Daphne chuckled, surprised but not angry.

"When you were in school, Professor, did you have good relations with Slytherins?"

"No." Lupin's response was emotionless and even guarded.

"Most people assume that all Slytherins are heartless whores or bristling cavemen hiding in the dungeons. If we're not hiding in the dungeons we're out killing people for _Voldemort._" She spit the word out with absolute hatred. Remus waited patiently. Suddenly, Daphne pulled up her sleeves and laid two bare forearms on her desk. "Check my arms, Professor. I'm no Death Eater. I may be a Slytherin but there are those of us who do not want a dark Lord." Her voice, so composed at the beginning of her tirade trembled only slightly as she pulled her sleeves back down and recrossed her legs, this time at her knees.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear, Miss Greengrass." Lupin smiled at her. "Exactly what I wanted to hear."

Ginny found lunch to be an awkward affair and abandoned the Great Hall with her old standby, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. As she strolled down the hallways, she hummed tunelessly to herself, nodding her head and pausing to stare out the window. The light hit Dumbledore's tomb just right and it glowed white and pristine.

"What are you doing here, Zacharias?" She felt him come up behind her, his hands on the cold stone window frame around her.

"He looks peaceful, don't you think?" Zacharias looked over her head for a minute before pushing himself off the window frame. "I wonder, sometimes, what he'd be doing now… if he weren't, well… you know." Ginny looked up at Zacharias and smiled before looking back out over the lawn.

"Yeah," her voice was quiet, almost pensive. "I miss him, Zacharias. I miss him and I never really got to know him. Isn't that ridiculous? I almost feel like I'm capitalizing on the genuine feelings of people who actually knew him. Sometimes I like to pretend I knew him but-" She stopped suddenly and shrugged. Zacharias smiled, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"I think we all do that, Gin." For just a moment, Ginny wished she could lean back into Zacharias' arms, just for a quick moment. Then she laughed at herself and pulled away from the window.

"I've got class, Zacharias. I'll see you later."


	3. Chapter 3

**I still don't own HP... I'm still thinking of the fun though. Anyway, I'm a little disappointed by the lack of reviews... I didn't think it was that bad... :-(**

Many things had changed for Ginny Weasley since the departure and "disappearance" of Harry Potter. She had received fan mail (one letter), death threats (2 letters), and a troop of Aurors to follow her around Diagon Alley while she shopped for school supplies. People recognized her in the streets and some girl's had a penchant for shooting her nasty looks.

However, some things were still sacred. Every Wednesday night was bath night. Although she herself was not a prefect, some things could be arranged through a careful mix of diplomacy and threatening glares. One of these things was the location of the prefect's bathroom. Ron had finally given her the location and she had learned to cherish it. This Wednesday night she was swimming little laps in the extra large bathtub and playing with the ruby spout. It shot out large fragrant bubbles that she was quite fond of. She popped one and giggled at the harrumph from the mermaid on the wall.

"Quit splashing, you bimbo." She teased. "It's my bath time and if you're not interested you can go float with Myrtle." With a final sniff, the mermaid splashed off, looking for another water picture. Taking a deep breath, Ginny ducked under the water and opened her eyes, watching the bubbles float above her head and found herself at peace. While she was sitting in the bathtub she could forget that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were gone. She could forget that things were different now. It was a war and she was away from it.

Fenrir Greyback was crouched in the forest. Although he rarely found himself in the Forbidden Forest or anywhere near Hogwarts, since the death of Dumbledore he had found himself staying much closer to the place of his last attack. Though the forest was dark, Greyback had no trouble seeing. Life as a werewolf had strengthened his senses, even when he wasn't in lupine form. He was perhaps the most deadly werewolf alive, though no official record had ever been kept. Although he would never admit it, even the Dark Lord feared Greyback's transformation and subsequent rages. If the full moon was near, Voldemort would often order Greyback caged for the duration of the moon's cycle. This behavior alone had worked a wedge between the two and their followers. Fenrir Greyback's clan knew that they would never be accepted as members in Voldemort's new world.

On orders from Greyback himself, they were to resume their production program by selecting targets and positioning themselves near when their change took place. There were to be no mistakes. Greyback himself chose a target, one Ginerva Molly Weasley. As a former host to the Dark Lord himself, the young woman could be a most lovely trophy. No one, Fenrir Greyback least of all, knew how the Dark Lord felt about his former vessel, but something drew him to her. She even haunted his dreams now, a red wolf, tall and rangy with eyes full of rage. In a flash, Greyback recognized his craving for Ginerva Weasley was more than it seemed. In longing for her, he longed for a queen. If this was indeed so, biting Bill Weasley was the best thing that had ever happened to him. It had linked him to this blood sibling, the only Weasley girl in several generations and a highly powerful witch. Powerful witches always made the best queens. His realization caused him to rock back on his haunches and grin, exposing filed fangs. Thus contented, he rose and turned, silently vanishing into the forest to contemplate his plan of attack.

Ginny slept fitfully, dreaming of the forest. Her breathing became shallow and fast as she tossed and turned on her pillow, her face screwed tightly in fright. A dark snarling wolf appeared in her dreams and a man with strangely glowing eyes watched her from the bushes. A calm lake showed her a picture of own terrified expression before exploding in mud and flying water. From somewhere she heard the screams of Hermione and Ron. She woke herself accidentally, tangling her fingers in her hair and pulling. Once again, she woke her roommates and, for one, they were sympathetic. Romilda padded over to where Ginny lay gasping for breath. She ran a cool hand over Ginny's forehead and reached over to her bedpost for a band. With three quick sweeps, Romilda pulled Ginny's hair back into a ponytail.

"Go back to sleep, Gin. There'll be time enough for trouble in the morning."


End file.
